<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>from earth by everlarklane</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27027880">from earth</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlarklane/pseuds/everlarklane'>everlarklane</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Victorious (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ADHD, Abuse, Alzheimer's Disease, Andre and Cat are best friends, Andre has anxiety and can you blame him?, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorder, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Canon Bipolar character, Canonical Child Abuse, Child Abuse, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Concussions, Disabled Cat Valentine, Drug Addiction, Friendship, Gen, Grooming, Hair Dyeing, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Mental Health Issues, Organized Crime, Physical Abuse, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Schizophrenia, Sexual Abuse, Sibling Abuse, Sibling Bonding, Sundowning, The Harris family basically adopts Cat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:08:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,774</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27027880</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlarklane/pseuds/everlarklane</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>andré and cat have each other. even when it's four am and andré's anxiety won't let him sleep or when cat's family makes it hard for her to exist, they have each other.<br/>it's enough.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andre Harris &amp; Cat Valentine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. red dye</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>May 11, 2008</span>
  </em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Cat calls André at one am and he doesn’t have to think twice before rushing over to her house, barely stopping to grab his shoes. She’s sobbing into her phone, breath so shaky it sounds like she might throw up, and it’s all he can do to keep her calm as he takes a taxi across the city. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gets there just as Cat’s oldest brother is pulling out of the driveway and the taxi driver has to jerk into the neighbor’s driveway to avoid his car. He watches as the man drives chaotically down the street, missing hitting a mailbox more than once. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s angry, but that’s a typical feeling when he thinks about Cat’s family. What’s more important is making sure she’s alright. He can vent to Jade later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André pays the driver and asks him to wait. He jumps out and glances down the road before making his way into the house, not bothering to knock. Her parents won’t be home and her brother didn’t lock the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cat?” he calls, and his breath catches in his lungs when he sees the shattered vase and Cat curled against a wall, her dark hair glimmering red. He picks his way across the vase and kneels next to her, scared to touch her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“André,” she murmurs, and when she looks up her pupils are mismatched in shape. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André knows that’s bad. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re going to the hospital, okay?” he says, and he picks her up. It should be difficult— André isn’t exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>strong</span>
  </em>
  <span>— but Cat is light and Cat is tiny and she’s hurt and it gives him strength. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” is what she says and André hates her brothers a little bit more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” he tells her, and then he shuts the door with his foot and carries her to the car. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He asks for the nearest hospital and is so grateful when the taxi driver doesn’t ask questions. He keeps glancing over every few seconds to make sure she’s conscious, to make sure she’s as okay as she can be when bleeding from the head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Questions can wait. He needs to make sure she’s okay first. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“‘s not his fault,” Cat tells him suddenly when they are stopped at a light. “Thought I was an intruder.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your brother?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hums and André forces himself not to push her. </span>
</p><p><span>“Yeah,” she says finally, and the word is slurred even beyond typical Cat-speech. “Was scared.”</span><span><br/></span> <span>“Him or you?” </span></p><p>
  <span>She blinks and bobs her head for a moment. “Both, I think,” she says, and it almost sounds lucid. “My hair looks like strawberries.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re bleeding,” he says, and almost cries with relief when the light turns green. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pretty,” she says, touching one glistening strand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The driver parks in the ER parking lot and he pays her and hops out, his blood rushing in his veins. André hurries over to Cat’s side. He’s been here before, at the ER with Cat, at least three times before. He’s not sure if that’s suspicious (then again, everything about him is suspicious to some people) or if it’ll mean they’ll recognize him and not cause problems. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hopes it's the latter. André carefully lifts Cat into his arms and she barely responds to it. It’s terrifying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five minutes later, they are checked in and sitting in the ER waiting room and he has to sing softly to Cat to keep her awake, keep her lucid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His phone buzzes but André ignores it for now. Cat has got to be high on the triage list and she’ll be taken care of soon. He can check it later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The nurse comes and takes Cat away and André realizes his shirt is going to be stained with blood. He feels dirty suddenly and tears threaten to bubble over and it takes everything to not start sobbing right there. Shit, he’s thirteen and he’s in a emergency room at almost two in the morning and his friend is bleeding from the head and he’s so fucking scared. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He checks his phone with trembling hands and sees that it’s his mom. He calls her and then he really is crying, one hand curled into his shirt and the other clutching his phone like a lifeline. He feels so small.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She tells him she’s on her way and he struggles to catch his breath and it's her comforting, calming words that keep him from losing it completely. She finally cuts off as she runs through the ER doors and holds him, murmuring to him in Spanish like he’s five years old again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he’s calm, she squeezes his hand and sits next to him, wiping his face with a cloth from her purse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Talk to me,” she says, and he does. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he’s done, she pats his hand and squeezes and it’s like he can breathe a bit more with her there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“While I’m not glad you ran out of the house without telling me, I’m proud of you for being a good friend,” she says. “We’ll report Alexi to child protective services again. Hopefully this time, with this kind of injury, they’ll do something.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Will they?” he mumbles and she sighs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can only hope.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s almost four am before Cat is wheeled out. André doesn’t even have to ask his mom if she can sleep over because she’s already asking her. Cat says yes, obviously, and André is relieved. He hugs her, tight, and rolls her to his mom’s car and then they are headed home with a loopy Cat on pain meds. She’s got thirty stitches in her head and impressive bruising on half her face, but she’s okay for want of a better word. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André leaves a voice mail at her house but knows no one but Alexi will be home to notice. Not that Alexi would ever even notice Cat was missing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>God, this is fucked up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They set Cat up on the pull out couch at home and André’s dad is awake, waiting for them. His grandmother is asleep, thankfully, as is his baby sister Mimi. He loves his grandmother but he’s holding on by a thread and can’t handle her and Cat at the same time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat, though, is asleep almost as soon as his mother has tucked her in. His parents wrap him up in a hug and he trembles, clinging to them both. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll call you both in from school tomorrow,” his father says, and André clings to them harder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” he murmurs and they both kiss his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get some sleep,” his father says, cupping his cheek and rubbing it gently with his thumb. “You did good today, André. It’s time to rest.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m proud of you baby,” his mother continues, kissing his forehead one last time. “Next time, </span>
  <em>
    <span>tell me</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I don’t want you going off on your own.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll try,” he says and she raises an eyebrow. “I will!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good,” they say in unison. André rolls his eyes. They tell him that they’ll talk about his punishment later for running off in the middle of the night but he can’t really bring himself to care. Cat needed him. That’s all that matters. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He goes to bed but despite how wrung out he is, he can’t sleep for the longest time. The image of Cat curled against the wall, her hair painted red, is stained into his mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The worst part is that he’s seen her worse before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André is tired. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>André wakes to warm sunlight and the sound of busy Los Angeles streets. Mimi is already off to school and his grandmother to the support group for elderly women with dementia. His mother is at work and his father has taken off to watch over André and Cat. A part of André wonders if he should be offended that his dad thinks he can’t take care of himself at thirteen. The bigger part of him is grateful that he isn’t alone in case something goes wrong. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He showers and then dresses slowly, his eyes on the blood-stained shirt in the trash near his door. Last night almost felt like a nightmare. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hallway is bright and smells of tomato soup. He smiles despite everything and shakes his head. Tomato soup. His dad’s solution to every ill in the world. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Morning sleepy head,” his dad teases and André can’t help but smile as the man serves up a bowl and places it at André’s spot at the counter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning,” he says, liberally sprinkling his bowl with oyster crackers. He eyes the boiling pot on the stove. “What are you making?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mac and cheese. Felt like using up that box of noodles your mom bought a while ago.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André nods and eats his soup. “How’s Grandma?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s having a good day,” his dad says, adding the noodles to the pot and turning down the heat. “She has a doctor’s visit later today so I’m hoping it holds up.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A companionable quiet falls between them as his father sits beside him with his own bowl of tomato soup. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cat’s still asleep,” his dad says after a while. “What happened last night? Your mom gave me a brief overview but…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alexi happened,” André says and if he stabs his spoon into his bowl, he doesn’t think he can be blamed. “He got out of prison a few weeks ago. Cat said something about him mistaking her for an intruder. Based on the broken vase near her when I came in, I think he hit her with it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His dad is quiet for a long moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“One of these days those brothers of hers are going to kill her,” he finally says and André can’t agree more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“CPS doesn’t take it seriously but we’ve been knew. Most they’ve ever done is take Dmitri to the ER for psych.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His father sighs and leans his chin against his folded hands. “Her other brothers— Dmitri and?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Henrik,” says André. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They aren’t home right now?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André shakes his head. “Dmitri is in Idaho, at the mental health clinic. Cat said he’s doing well and should be home in five months. Henrik is with her parents. I think they went to visit her uncles in San Francisco but since Cat had school…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They left her home with Alexi.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André nods. The anger is simmering in his stomach again. Out of Cat’s brothers, Alexi is the one who scares him the most. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Will they notice if Cat is gone for a few days?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André pauses, eyes darting up to his father’s. Understanding strikes and a soft smile melts across his face. “No. They won’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’ll stay with us then, until her parents come back. I doubt they would protest.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” André says, and his shoulders slump with relief. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His father squeezes his shoulders gently and rises, bowl empty. “Not a problem, André. It’s the least we can do to help that girl.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just wish we could do more,” André says, and the helplessness he feels is far too familiar for comfort. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me too.” A pause and then his father takes a steading breath. “Me too.” </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>André is there when Cat wakes up. His father has gone to pick up his grandmother and take her to the doctor’s appointment, so for a little while he’s alone. Cat wakes in pain but she smiles through it even as André fetches the generic pain medication from the medicine closet. He hands her water and speaks quietly to her as she remembers what happened the night before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He keeps the blinds closed, the room dark as she adjusts to consciousness. The doctor said she had a bad concussion and André has helped her through concussions before. He’s quiet, careful not to make too much noise but Cat flinches at just the sound of the cars outside and that helplessness doesn’t leave him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She repeats herself a couple times, asking about her brother, asking if André is okay, asking where she is, and André knows it's the concussion but it hurts to see her like this. There are times he wonders if she’ll be like this forever, like the last time one of her brothers had given her a concussion and she hadn’t been able to stay properly in reality for weeks. Cat always recovers as much as she can, though sometimes he swears she’s losing pieces of herself each time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He reminds himself that this isn’t forever, that she’ll recover. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat knows something is wrong because she pulls him close and lets him hug her, murmuring to </span>
  <em>
    <span>him </span>
  </em>
  <span>that everything is okay. She’s a good friend. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She deserves so much better than what her family gives her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André will be damned if his family won’t be there to catch her. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Two days later, Cat is determined to dye her hair red and nothing André says to the contrary can change her mind. They find themselves in the bathroom with bleach and red hair dye and it’s an absolute disaster from start to finish. André ruins yet another shirt and Cat’s ears are cherry red despite their desperate attempts to remove the dye, but her hair is red and Cat is smiling. André will do anything to see her happy, even if his nails will be faintly pink for weeks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mimi, anyway, thinks it’s pretty cool when he and Cat emerge from the bathroom. It takes André’s poor father thirty minutes to cave and agree to Mimi dying her hair blue and another thirty minutes to convince their mother to allow it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat is still struggling with her concussion and can barely handle any noise, but André reads to her and Mimi in an almost-whisper and then he has two girls curled up against him, asleep, and it’s warm and nice. He tucks Cat in with soft blankets his grandmother quilt with the church ladies and carries Mimi to bed, carefully wrapping her hair in soft pink satin. He tucks her in too and brushes a stray baby hair under the satin and kisses her forehead. She’s nine and so determined to be an adult but asleep like this, she’s so little that André can hardly believe she’s in fourth grade already. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He picks up Mimi’s cat, Peanut, and sets the old monster by his sister. The cat gives him a baleful glare but settles down against her side, purring. He turns out the light and heads into the hallway where his father meets him with a hug and a gentle pat on the back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How’s Grandma doing?” André asks, quiet enough to not wake his sister. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His father shrugs, leaning against the hallway wall. “About how she usually does this time of night. She’s pacing right now but I think she’s tired enough that she’ll go to sleep soon. Your mother is keeping an eye on her.” He pauses and then smiles tiredly at André. “But that’s not for you to worry about. Ready for class tomorrow?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d rather be home with Cat,” he admits, but knows he shouldn’t miss more class then he already has. He doesn’t regret staying home with Cat the last few days, but there’s only so long he can delay it and Cat is lucid most of the time now. “But yeah. I am. Mia dropped off my homework after school and not much happened today, unless you count her accidentally setting a prop on fire.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His father opens his mouth and then closes it, apparently deciding it wasn’t worth commenting on. “Cat’s going home tomorrow, right?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” André says, though the idea of it makes his stomach twist. “Her parents are coming home and she misses her dog.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s welcome here if she needs a safe place to stay,” he reminds André. “I’ll tell her myself, but she might believe it more coming from you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” André says and hugs his dad one last time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not a problem. Go to bed.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André goes to bed. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>andré and cat deserve better from the show and from the fandom.</p><p>since it's unconfirmed whether cat has multiple brothers or just one, i decided to split her brother stories into three different brothers, as it makes more sense.<br/>canonically, several things cat describes her brother doing can legally be considered a sex crime and its implied he repeatedly engages in inappropriate sexual behavior either around or near cat, as well as in public. i decided that the implications of sexual abuse were strong enough to add tags warning for it. i'm not sure if i'll actually go in depth into it or develop those story threads, but if i do i will add more tags for it. </p><p>there is a lot of ableism in victorious and i'm hoping to subvert a lot of this. before we continue, i want to set a few things straight:<br/>1. the vast majority of people with schizophrenia are far more likely to be harmed by other people rather than the opposite. when schizophrenic people are violent, its usually only to themselves.<br/>2. the way the show misuses 'bipolar' is ableist and gross and steeped in a misunderstanding of what bipolar disorder is.<br/>3. andre's grandmother will have paranoid schizophrenia and alzheimer's here. again, the way her mental health is portrayed on the show is gross and steeped in stereotypes. schizophrenia and alzheimer's are not jokes and aren't funny.<br/>4. addiction is not a moral failure. it is a mental health disorder and can happen to anyone, even if you have no intention of ever going near drugs. while some addicts can and do cause harm, not all addicts do. addiction is not an excuse for harming other people, but it also does not diminish their humanity in anyway. people with addictions need help just like anyone else. its hard to both be someone struggling with an addiction and to be a loved one of one with an addiction. </p><p>Cat shows a lot of symptoms of severe childhood trauma as well as a variety of other symptoms. She fits a large spectrum of disorders but for this I decided to go with autism, PTSD, depersonalization-derealization disorder, brain injury, bipolar disorder type one, and ADHD. I am someone with autism, PTSD, a dissociative disorder, ADHD, mood disorders, and brain injuries, so I feel comfortable in attempting to write her as someone with these disorders. I want to also make it clear that Cat doesn't not necessarily act like a stereotypical person with these disorders. Many of her behaviors are either social skills picked up by mimicking her brothers, coping skills to deal with her home life and mental health issues, or otherwise learned through a variety of life experiences. </p><p>André will also be struggling with anxiety and living with a grandparent that has severe mental health problems as well. It can be traumatic to see a friend like Cat go through difficult things and it can be traumatic to watch a grandparent struggle with health issues, especially if you are close to them. </p><p>Cat and André will be leaning on each other and supporting each other. I wish more people wrote about their friendship.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. sunset</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>April 11, 2010</span>
  </em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>André’s grandma forgot his name for the first time today. He knew it was coming but some part of him was so desperate for it to never come that he’d convinced himself that it wouldn’t happen. She’s been in the early stage for so long that André almost let himself believe that this was the new normal, that this was all he’d have to adapt to. He’d told himself that her increased paranoid symptoms were just her schizophrenia acting up, that her restlessness at night could be attributed to the move to their apartment, that her constant shredding of tissues was anxiety, but it wasn’t. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And now she forgot his name for the first time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André knew it was coming and it had only been for a moment but that moment had felt like an eternity when his grandmother stared at him and didn’t recognize him at all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It made it real, somehow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When his dad comes home and takes his grandmother to her weekly quilting club, André takes the chance to flee. He gets on the bus to Cat’s house, rescues her from what looks to be an imminent fight between her mom and Alexi, and they head to Little Tokyo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s evening and there’s a small band playing at the corner of one of the shops and he and Cat sit and listen, Cat with a lychee boba and André with a taro. Above them, the red lanterns glow in the slowly setting sun and he can forget that his grandmother is losing herself for a little bit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat drags him into dancing and he laughs, spinning his best friend and moving to the music in a way that makes him feel free. They are happy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The music ends but Cat drags him to a few of the stores before they close and buys him a keychain with his favorite pokemon and he buys her a stuffed sylveon which Cat decides to name ‘Bubblegum’. The sun is low in the sky and they head back towards Cat’s apartment, making plans to head out to Santa Barbara that weekend. The train is crowded and takes forever, but André is used to it, and it gives him more time with Cat. It’s almost dark by the time he drops her off, but she hugs him and makes him promise to meet up with her after school tomorrow. He does, because of course he does. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André heads home and heads up past the pool and palm trees, up the stairs and past the neighbor’s cat that he swears spends more time outside then in their house. He scratches behind its ears and heads inside, where Mimi is already in bed and his mom and dad are watching a show. They ask about he and Cat’s evening and he can’t be more grateful then he already is that they don’t assume that they are romantic. Cat is like a little sister. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His grandma is quilting in the kitchen and he hugs her tightly, relieved when she recognizes him immediately. She kisses his cheek and André heads to his room to finish off his homework before going to sleep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s not okay, he realizes as he sits down with half-complete sheet music in hand. He doesn’t think it’s going to be okay again as long as his grandmother is sick. But he can begin to live with it because he’ll have to and because if he wants to spend the last few years with her as much as he can, he’ll need to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André won’t be alone. He’s got Cat and Mimi and his parents and all of his friends. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gets to work. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. the clown incident</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>August 17, 2010</span>
  </em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>André and his mom pick Cat up from the police station. She’s pale and trembling, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders in the waiting room and looks much younger than her fourteen years. What gets André is that her parents had just </span>
  <em>
    <span>left</span>
  </em>
  <span> her, left her there after she’d given her statement, after she’d had to explain how her cousin shot her oldest brother. How do you leave your daughter alone in a police station after she watched her brother get shot? What kind of person does that? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cat’s parents, apparently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André’s mom sweeps her into her arms and holds her tight while Cat shakes. When her mom pulls back Cat has that thousand-yard stare she gets when she’s not quite present, not quite able to let herself connect to the world around her and it kills some little piece inside of André. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They lead her out into the sun and take her home— their home. André’s mom cooks good food, comfort food, while André holds his friend and lets her talk when she finally pulls herself from that haze she’s in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alexi, Cat, and her cousin Jesse were on their way home from Jesse’s clown gig. Alexi was Alexi and kept poking and prodding Jesse until he’d snapped. Except, where most people would shout or shove Alexi away, Jesse had pulled a gun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jesse had pulled a gun and shot Alexi in front of Cat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And now Cat was on his couch, crying and wearing a shirt and pants covered in her brother’s dried blood. She didn’t know if her brother was going to live and if even if Alexi made Cat’s life a living hell, he knew she loved him. He knew it hurt. Though André hated Alexi, he didn’t want him hurt if it meant Cat would be here, crying and in pain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He holds her as she cries out her worries, as she whispers about the blood, about how Jesse had almost gotten himself shot by police, how the people around them had screamed. She talks about how pale Alexi had been, how Jesse’s clown makeup had begun to melt with sweat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He carefully leads her to the kitchen and lets his mother feed her with comfort food and warm spices and does his best to keep her grounded, keep her present even as she bursts into tears more than once. He holds her when word comes that Alexi is alive and has come through surgery and makes the call to a disinterested Valentine mother when he asks if Cat can sleep over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He holds her when she cries because she doesn’t know if she’ll ever see Jesse again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>André tucks her in when she’s cried herself out and he crashes on the couch next to her. He’s glad it’s the summer because he doesn’t think either of them could handle school tomorrow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mimi comes in and curls up against Cat and the three of them sleep and hope things will look better in the morning. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>